Pentagon releases U.S. pilot's photo of Chinese spy balloon

The Pentagon released a selfie taken by the pilot of a U2 spy plane that was flying above the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the military earlier this month. 

The pilot took the selfie in the U2’s cockpit while tracking the balloon as it was entering the airspace above the continental U.S. at more than 60,000 feet when it was spotted over Montana on Feb. 3.

The picture shows the silver-white sphere of the balloon carrying panels below it, and the shadow of the aircraft on the balloon. 

Pentagon releases U-2 pilot’s selfie with Chinese spy balloon https://t.co/FpupdLaboy pic.twitter.com/w6WKSbcs4w

— The Hill (@thehill) February 23, 2023

The Chinese balloon was discovered flying above Montana on January 28. Ultimately, the balloon was shot down with a missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

The wreckage of the balloon was retrieved and is being analyzed at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.  

The State Department believed that the high-altitude balloon was “capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations” and was part of a Chinese intelligence collection program.   

However, China has claimed the balloon was a civilian device used for meteorological research that strayed from its path and entered U.S. airspace accidentally. The incident escalated tensions between China and the U.S., causing Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his upcoming trip to China.